Nehemiah - Recap & Application
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
I'm excited to kind of wrap up our Nehemiah series, we've been in it for like 13 weeks, so like a few months here. It's been great. I hope you've enjoyed it. I'll speak for Andre because he's not here. Andre's enjoyed it, I've enjoyed it, Pastor Lauren's enjoyed it, it's been great. But with this really cool story about God using a man who was just willing, a man who had a heart for the people of God and his tenacity, his grit, his willingness to just push through so many things that came at him. He didn't know when he signed up for the job. It was such a great thing for us. So we want to take a Sunday and actually make sure that we recap kind of what we learned and what we went through. So we're going to walk through some different themes this morning from the book of Nehemiah. If you don't know the story of Nehemiah, Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king who was in charge of the region. They were technically under captivity under King Artaxerxes. You said that five times, man. Exactly. He basically was the test guy for the king. He would eat all the food, he would drink all the liquid and wine and juice and all that stuff just to make sure that nobody was poisoning kings. So a pretty high stress job if you think about it. And he has some people come visit him from Jerusalem and he hears about the state of the city. They had rebuilt the temple, but Jerusalem as a whole, the city was just in shambles. It was a mess. There was no security with the wall. And so he's moved by God through prayer to actually ask of the king to have a leave of absence to go to Jerusalem and to help rebuild the wall. And so the king honors his request, which is a miracle in itself, and he goes to Jerusalem and he starts rebuilding the wall. And he comes across opposition, he comes across people who don't want the city to be good, he comes against outside countries and nations that are trying to control Jerusalem. He comes up against sin in the city itself, the Israelite people aren't living the way God has called them to. But this man of God, who a prayer warrior, walks through this season and stepping out in a role that wasn't his role essentially. I mean, he was never really trained as a masonry or this wasn't his side business where he built walls because he loved to build walls. But he was just a man who said yes to God's calling in the season and stepped up. And we see as we wrapped up last week that he has not only rebuilt the wall, rebuilt the city, reestablished the city, reestablished the leaders and the temple priests and all this stuff. And in the end, you see this moment of a leader just exhausted. He's tired, he's worn out, but yet he has rebuilt the wall and he's reestablished the city. And we're going to walk through some themes this morning, some really cool ones with us today.
Yeah, so one of the first themes that we really picked out of Nehemiah that we felt was really important to hit home is the idea of prayer. And Nehemiah, you see it throughout the entire book, he is a man of prayer. It was always his first response. It was never a second thought. It was never a last resort. It was always his first response when he approached anything. I mean, you see in chapter one, when he hears about the wall, he immediately fasts and prays. So he's already just talking to God about this. And then after he feels like the Lord is calling him, the king asked him what's going on and what he needs. And before he even responds to his boss, the king, he prays. He prays and seeks out God. And then he goes into, when he goes to Jerusalem, he kind of just takes inventory and rides around the wall and rides around the city and is praying and seeking God. Even when he knows what his call is by then and he knows what his job is supposed to do, he's still continuing to pray. He's still continuing to seek out, okay, every step of the way, Lord, I need you to guide me. I need you to show me what is next. He was just so intentional with that. Even when he thought he knew the right steps, even when he thought he was sure of things throughout the book, he continued to come back to prayer, to kind of this like recalibration and check in with God and always seek him and always allow God to guide him. It reminds me of Romans 12, 12. It says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." And Nehemiah exemplified all of these things. He was joyful in hope and he was patient in affliction, which he faced a lot of, but he was so faithful in prayer. He was so good to always make sure that that was a top priority for not only him, but for all the people. He led the people in seeking God, in how to go about all of this, in how to face the opposition, in how to actually do the job of rebuilding the wall. They constantly were seeking God. And really just the reality that we can take away is that it is helpful, obviously, to pray and to seek him, but it's just wise. It is a wise thing for us to look at prayer as a priority, to make it a priority in our life, to constantly seek the Lord, ask him to guide our steps. It's so easy for us to get out in front of God. We, "Okay, Lord, you showed me what I need to do. I'm going to go." And then we like run out in front of him. He was like, "Okay, I showed you the next step and you're like 15 steps ahead." So sometimes we need to take a breath and take a moment and really just be sure that we are seeking him every step of the way. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 says, "Pray continually." Now that doesn't necessarily mean that we're like sitting in our closet or in our, you know, our prayer chair at home and just always praying and never doing anything else, but it's continuing this conversation with the Lord. If we claim to be in a relationship with God, we got to keep talking to him. I can't just stop talking to Chris and expect a relationship to continue. That won't work. We have to continue this conversation with God. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to come to him with our concerns, with our prayers, with our praise too. Prayer can be a time of praise and adoration as well, but he wants us to continue to pray continually to be engaged in that conversation with him all the time
Yeah, absolutely. And Nehemiah faced loads and loads and loads of opposition and it came from most unlikely places. He had opposition from outside, which they had surrounding nations and cities that were competing for the area, which was expected. But then he also had opposition from within. He had his own Israelite people turn against him and to come at him and to judge him, to ridicule him, and even opposition from themselves. The Israelite people at times just got in their own way. I have so many times where God's like, "Hey, this is what I want you to do. This is where I want you to be." God is leading them and calling them and then they just get in their own way by making their own choices, living the way that they want to. But there's a specific moment when, I love this, in Nehemiah when he started to build the wall and there's this group of, we'll call them the elite, I guess. I don't know other way, but Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem. They basically come to Nehemiah and they're like, "Hey man, how about you come down the wall? We'll talk things out. We'll come up with a plan of what we're going to do here." And I love what Nehemiah says. He doesn't come down. He's like, "I'm too busy doing God's stuff," he says in Nehemiah 6.3. So I sent messages to them, the three bros. "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?" Nehemiah knew his calling. He knew what he was supposed to do. And without a shadow of a doubt, he wasn't going to let anything get in the way. Even if it meant going against the "cultural norms" of the city that were established before he shows up, he pushes through. Even to the point where they have to begin to defend themselves by having a trowel for rebuilding the wall in one hand and a sword in the other after they were beginning to be attacked. Nehemiah wasn't going to let any threats, any other people's opinions, any outside influence, he wasn't going to let anything stop him from building the wall which God had called him to do. This is level of perseverance is just incredible.
It says in Romans 5, 3-4, not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. Opposition wasn't fun. I don't know if you've ever been tasked with a project and somebody comes up against you. It's not the most joyous occasion. It's not that we hope to face when we feel like we're trying to walk the way God has us, but we know that there's an enemy too that doesn't want us to walk in the way that God has called us to. Also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, right? Perseverance, character, character, hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. We have an assurance as followers of Christ that when we're given a task by God and we're called to fulfill that task, to live it out, to walk step by step where he has called us, that we know we have the Holy Spirit who partners in that with us. We're not doing this alone. Nehemiah wasn't building this wall alone. Yes, he had people around him from the city helping him, but he had God. He had God with him through all of that, and that gave him a boldness that was unlike anything that we had seen before. It's so evident in this book that Nehemiah knew his calling and he knew his purpose in this season. See, I think that's key right there. That wasn't his first job. That wasn't his perfect gift. I know he may have been a really bad wall builder, but he had YouTube to watch and learn how to build walls. No, I'm kidding. But that wasn't his calling, but it was his calling in that season. He was a cupbearer to the king. That was his first role, and he had to ask permission to go away from it, and we read that he actually goes back for a time as well and comes back to Jerusalem. But for the season in that moment, in that time, that was his calling. I think for some of us, we have different callings in different seasons. I have a calling in a season right now to help lead worship at Spring Valley. It's not my primary job. It's not my primary role, but in this season and in this time, this is what God has asked me to step up in faith. And so we step up and we faith. Lauren serves joyfully. Joyfully. I say gleefully is a little long, but joyfully in our children's ministry. That's not her calling. That's not her passion. She likes preaching in here to big kids, not little kids. But she does it because of the season we're in and where we're at. There's so many seasons and people that I look around this room that you guys are stepping up in this church in seasons, and it's amazing. It's a huge testament to your faithfulness to God. And for us to see an example like Nehemiah, who had the grit to stick through this project, through the thick and through the thin, even in the face of any opposition.
Well, and right along with that, the perseverance, despite maybe not being in his giftedness, was this idea of service. These people, these Jews were coming together for a common purpose of rebuilding the wall. And it said in chapter three that there were priests, goldsmiths, perfume makers, there was all kinds of people with all different skill sets, all different careers. And they all came together for one purpose. And it wasn't so much that they were talented or skilled in rebuilding the wall or in leading the people, but they were willing. They made themselves available to the service for God. And I think that a lot of the times we think that we have to be skilled in something, or we have to be especially gifted in something. And we believe the Holy Spirit gives us gifts for the purpose of giving to the body, of edifying the church. That is true. If you are a believer, you have been given gifts of the Spirit. But also there is a willingness that needs to be there, an availability that we have in our heart to be used however God sees fit. And here we see all of these names listed out in Nehemiah. And it makes you wonder, because they were available and because they were in service to God, they have their names in the Bible forever. They get to have that praise, I guess, for them to be able to say, "Yeah, I was there. Make note, take record of this. I got to be there. I was part of the group. I was a perfume maker. I never had built a wall in my life, but I got to be in service to God because I made myself available.”
Colossians 3:23-24 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." We would all love to have earthly rewards for the service that we do in the church and in the community. That would be wonderful. But that's not always a reality. There are certainly benefits and rewards that come from serving, but we are serving God. We are serving the Lord when we volunteer, when we show up, when we have a smile and a welcome to someone else. That is serving others and therefore serving God. And that is making yourself available despite your skillset, despite your passions, despite maybe what you feel like you're lacking. Making yourself available to God is the key. It is the obedience, not the results. And so we feel like that is a value here is serving in the church, in the community, where you are, where you live. And that is so important because we are doing it for the Lord, not for man. And there's an obedience part in there.
And it takes us to our big final theme that we had through Nehemiah, and that's holiness. It's this obedience to what God has asked of us. And there were times, multiple times in New Maya when the people read the book of God. They read the Bible, they read the scrolls, they read the Torah, and they realized through reading God's word that their lives weren't right. They took God's scripture and they took their lives and compared them side by side and realized these aren't lining up. God's asking me to live this way and I'm over here doing this thing. That's not right. That's not what God has asked us to do. And they weren't living their life the way God wanted. They were living the way that they wanted to, which I think we all at times struggle with, right? We end up living the way that we want to or the way that we want to in our choices, in our preferences, in how we have our calendars. We live the way that we want to. And for New Maya and Jerusalem, it was specifically they weren't obeying God's commands in the temple for worship. They weren't obeying the Sabbath with God commanded them all the way back to Egypt, coming out of Egypt to set a day aside and worship and praise to Him. They weren't obeying Him in their relationships. There was intermarrying going on, relationships that weren't centered on God, and things were affecting their daily lives. And in the final chapter we read in New Maya, we see him after he comes back to Jerusalem and going back to the king as a cupbearer, he shows back up and everything is in chaos. He had left certain people in charge and they had failed at their job. He had told people this is how we're supposed to live their lives and they just somehow forgot it. They just started doing whatever they pleased. And New Maya comes back and goes, "This isn't what God has called us to. This isn't the righteousness that God said we're supposed to live." And once again, he helps lead them back into right living and right standing with God. And New Maya could have easily said, "You know what? I built the wall. I did my job. Peace out, Jerusalem. Good luck." Not my rodeo, but he knew what was important. He knew that the wall and the temple and the health of the city was just a tool or a resource or a plumb line or a guide to what God wanted for them. And that was for them to have a heart after God. And they didn't have that heart. And so, New Maya didn't care, I think he cared, but not cared that the wall had been built and that the temple was good and that the city was set. He knew that those were good and great, but he knew what was more important and that was their heart living for God. He really knew that they needed to honor God with all of their self.
It says in 1 Peter 1:14-16, "Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know better. You didn't know any better then, but now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the scriptures say, 'You must be holy because I am holy.'" Those are the words of God. But to do that and to live that out, it requires confession, it requires repentance. But also one of the things that I love about New Maya was that involves celebration. There were times where they had to repent for what they did. They had to grieve their disobedience, but it didn't stop there. They let God come into their hearts, restore them, change them, bring them back to life, and they celebrated that. I don't know that the church does that super well. Not enough. I don't think we do that enough to celebrate in God. We like to be hard on ourselves, go, "Oh, I messed up," or, "I'm not good," or, "God, you don't know the things that I've done." Well, first off, he does. He's been there the whole time. But you're just like, "God, you just don't get it. I'm a horrible person. I'm all messed up." And God goes, "Okay. I can fix you. I want to fix you, and I want you to celebrate. I want to bring joy into your hearts. I want you to celebrate this new life, to worship with joy and gladness for what God had done, has done, and what he is going to do and what he will do.”
So what about us? What do we take about this? What's our big number one thing we learn from Nehemiah? Well, I think a great question to start is, what is God asking of you right now in this season? What's God asking you to step up and do, to step up, to step in, even when it might not be our preference? Because that's true service right there. It's easy to serve when we want to, where we want to, how we want to. It's not much of a sacrifice. But Nehemiah uprooted his entire life, traveled far, sacrificed his years of service. There's times where he sacrificed income to feed people. He gave up of himself, probably not what he wanted to do, to answer the call that God had asked him for in that season. I think for us is, are we seeking God regularly? Are we taking time every single day in prayer, in scripture reading, in personal worship, silence, and solitude? Do we have a weekly Sabbath? Or are we living out this idea of walking with God in holiness, allowing him to come in and go through all the junk that we have, relinquishing control with the stuff that we have, letting him transform us into ultimately who he wants us to be, right? Do we keep prayer as the lifeblood of our lives? Do we pray as if our lives depend upon it? Nehemiah did. Nehemiah prayed like that was his only resource. I think that should be us too, that we should pray as if our lives depended upon it. And ultimately, are we trusting God to control everything, even in the midst of opposition? That we can persevere through life, we can make it through the next five minutes, an hour, the next day, next week, knowing that God's got our back, knowing that the Holy Spirit is there with us, interceding for us to God, praying prayers that sometimes we can't even pray ourselves because we're so overwhelmed in life from where we're at. Do we persevere?
Probably one of the key verses I love that comes out of Nehemiah, and a lot of people quote this and talk about this, but it comes from Nehemiah 8:10. And it says, "For the joy of the Lord is our strength." The joy of the Lord is our strength. Do we think about God as our joy juice? The one that recharges us? He gives us the breath in our lungs every morning when we wake up, right? He gives the energy to our bodies. He sustains our life. It's not us. It's not who we are. It's God. But do we look at it in a way of joy? Do we think about Mondays as joyful? I don't know. Some Mondays, it's a holiday. What if we saw every single day as an opportunity to let God's joy be our strength and to where His strength empowers everything that we do? I think our lives would look different. I think our lives would look a little bit more like Nehemiah.
Let me pray. Jesus, we thank You. God, thank You for Your servant, Nehemiah, who gave up everything for You, God. He gave up his plush job in the palace with the king, traveled to Jerusalem, faced ridicule and opposition, both inside and out, faced ridicule from people who were probably supposed to be the ones on his team, and yet they turned on him too. God, I urge us this week that we would make prayer the number one thing in our lives, just as Nehemiah did, to seek You in every single moment, in the joy, in the heart, in the twists and the turns of life that come at us so fast, God. God, may we stay connected to You in Your Holy Spirit. God, so when things come up against us, we can have this joy that is our strength to seek after You as You've called us to be a holy people. God, come into our lives today, in this moment right now. Remind us of Your sovereignty, Your strength, Your power, Your grace, Your love, Your patience, Your faithfulness. God, You're an amazing God, and I'm continually amazed, blown away, God, that You care about each and every one of us. God, maybe there's some people here today who would say, "I don't know this, Jesus. I haven't made a conscious decision to allow God to come into my life." And so, Jesus, I pray right now that in the quiet of their heart, they would just pray a simple prayer of, "God, I'm sorry. God, I need You. Jesus, come into my life. I give You what is the humbleness of my day-to-day, my family, my job, my whole being I give to You. God, cleanse me. Make me right again with You. Forgive the sins, the wrong things that I've done. Make me whole. I want Your holiness to come into my life to transform me so that I can live in turn the way that You've asked me to live. Jesus, I thank You for who You are and Your gift and Your sacrifice on the cross for my life to substitute for the death that I was facing. Or maybe we need to just make a decision right now in this moment to say, "I need to say yes to God again. I've been on my own thing. I've been running away. I've been angry at God maybe. Maybe I've been frustrated. You've been just let down, it seems like. Maybe we need to make a choice to say, "God, come back. I need You. I know You're my only source of hope, and I missed it. God, come into my life. Restore me. Remind me of who You are, and I may trust in You once again. God, we're so grateful for today. We're grateful for everything that You've blessed us with. God, may we continue to live out the calling that You have for us that may change in seasons from time to time, but God, may we joyfully serve and step up in those moments, knowing it's not going to last forever, but knowing that this is our calling from You right now. We love You, Jesus. We thank You. We praise You for who You are. In Jesus' name, amen.